Fellowships & Grants

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CSEAS Travel Grants

CSEAS administers a travel grant program for UC Berkeley graduate and undergraduate students.  Small grants are awarded on a competitive basis to support recipients to undertake short-term research or to attend conferences to present scholarly papers. There is no restriction as to the level, departmental affiliation, or citizenship of the applicant. Students must be in good academic standing, and be enrolled through the entire travel period.

The maximum award for graduate students is $1,100 for overseas travel or $500 for travel in the U.S. The maximum award for undergraduates is $500. Grant awards are made based on the scholarly merit of the applications.

An application should include a brief (one-page) proposal and a budget. The proposal should describe the project and its relevance to the applicant’s program of study. Proposals to present papers at academic conferences should provide information about the conference and an abstract of the applicant’s presentation. A second page of the application should outline the budget including the total costs of the project and indicate if the applicant has any other funding. Letters of recommendation are not required. Graduate students should provide their name and e-mail address, department and advisor, date of entry into the graduate program and candidacy status and the topic and status of dissertation research. The application must be signed by the student’s faculty chair. Undergraduates should provide their name and e-mail address, major (if declared) and expected graduation date. The application must be signed by the Undergraduate Major Advisor, or, if undeclared, by the L&S Undergraduate Advisor. Applications can be submitted either by e-mail in PDF format or as a hard copy to cseas@berkeley.edu. 

The next deadline for CSEAS Travel Grants will be Spring 2024.

CSEAS Graduate Research Fellowships

We are now accepting applications for the 2024-2025 fellowship competition (Deadline: April 1, 2024). 

Maximum Award: $6,000 | Average Award: $1,500-$3,500

The Center for Southeast Asia Studies is committed to offering financial assistance to continuing UC Berkeley graduate students. CSEAS will accept applications for academic purposes including pre-dissertation research, dissertation research, dissertation writing, and summer language study.

Applicants are strongly urged to provide recommenders with copies of their statement of purpose beforehand. All application materials must be saved as a PDF and emailed to adalferro@berkeley.edu on or before April 1, 2024.

  1. A current Curriculum Vitae
  2. A detailed Research/Study Proposal for the period of requested support (max. 2 pages)
  3. A List of All Financial Assistance received during graduate study, including fellowships from ALL sources (extramural fellowships as well), research assistantships, teaching appointments, and grants
  4. A complete List of All Support including the amount of funds requested for the coming academic year, with notes on the status of the requests
  5. An estimated, itemized budget for your project
  6. Two Letters of Recommendation, emailed directly to adalferro@berkeley.edu.
  7. A current Transcript (unofficial copies OK) from UCB together with a list of any courses currently in progress

Please contact the Center for Southeast Asia Studies at cseas@berkeley.edu with any questions you may have.

Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships

Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships funded by the U.S. Department of Education are awarded at UC Berkeley annually on a competitive basis for the academic year and for summer study. FLAS fellowships are only available to U.S. citizens or permanent residents. CSEAS administers the FLAS fellowship process for UC Berkeley students studying a Southeast Asian language. The application deadline is in late January/early February.

Academic Year FLAS awards are for graduate students and undergraduate students who plan to study a Southeast Asian language, offered through the Department of South & Southeast Asian Studies.

Undergraduates may apply for a FLAS award if they are planning to study a Southeast Asian language at the intermediate or advanced level. Award preference will be given to undergraduates who are either majoring or minoring in Southeast Asian Studies through the Department of South & Southeast Asian Studies or who otherwise demonstrate a commitment to Southeast Asian Studies.

Students who are already at an advanced proficiency level and/or students who have received an academic year FLAS award more than twice may not apply for a new FLAS award.

For graduate students, the Academic Year FLAS Fellowship covers registration fees up to $18,000 and provides a stipend of $20,000. For undergraduates, the FLAS Fellowship provides $10,000 applied towards registration fees and a $5,000 stipend.

Summer FLAS awards are available for undergraduate and graduate students to study a Southeast Asian language either in the U.S. or overseas. Overseas language programs must meet the standards for course instruction and contact hours set by the U.S. Department of Education. In general, overseas programs are only open for students planning to study at an advanced level. Students who wish to study a Southeast Asian language who are not yet at an advanced level may only use a FLAS award for an overseas program if the pertinent language is not offered at a reputable program in the U.S.

Note: The Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute (SEASSI) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison offers summer language instruction in many Southeast Asian languages.

The Summer FLAS Fellowship covers language program fees up to $5,000 and provides a stipend of $2,500.